LOISY A PROFESSOR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 448, 5 March 1909, Page 7

LOISY A PROFESSOR.

THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AND THE CHURCH. (DY TKMSGlUrn—hies** association— copyright./ - - Paris, March 3. Tho Roman Catholic world is perturbed because of the French Government's appointment of tho Abbe Loisy to the chair of history and religion at. a collego in France.

THE MAg ANDjnE.SCHCLAB., Abbe ioisy" 1 was*', excommunicated by the Pope in March -of last year for his Modernist' opinions, though, like Fathqr ' Ty:Tell,. : 'he declares ' that he is quite loyal to the true' 1 principles of Catholic Christianity. The Roman Catholio authorities, however, declare that the acceptance of certain phases of his teaching would undermine soma, of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian Faith, and many Protestants are in"-full agreement with tho Pope in this matter.

In'his book on "Modernism," the Rav. A. L. Lilley (Anglican) gives the following sketch of M. Loisy as a man-and a scholar:—M. .Loisy has hitherto been known mainly as a scholar, so revolutionary as often to outstrip his German masters. In his latest book ("The Gospel and-the Church") he appears as an apologist more revolutionary still. Yet there are two things which .must impress thomselves upon everyone who knows his work—the sincerity of his devotion to truth, and the sincerity of his devotion to the Roman Church. He is a man endowed with most' of the gifts of tho really greitt scholar—patience, teachableness, and -a rare intellectual sincerity. He is unwearied in his attempt to disentangle the facts from the documents which he handles, he keeps his mind open to receive their full and just impression, and he passes fearlessly to the "conclusions which they seam to him to impose. He is not a revolutionary for the sake of being such,. but bccause the facts as he finds them leave him no other "alternative. But this is after all only the Superficial activity of the man. Behind it lies a deep humble religious nature, ono which you. feel has received'its most intimate finality from the Roman Church, and can never bo at home elsewhere. THE OTHER SIDE. An stated above, there can be no doubt that there is a very general feeling among Conservative theologians, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, that M.'Loisy's teaching is in many ways a danger to the Christian faith. Tho reason for thfe is stated by the Rev. J. S. Johnston (late scholar of Trinity' College, Dublin) in a recent article in "The Interpreter" reviewing 11. Sabatier's Jowett lectures on "Modernism." Mr. Johnston himself frankly accepts the methods of modern Biblical criticism, and his reviow is on the wholo quite sympathetic, but he points out very clearly those parts of M. Loisy's teaching which are considered dangerous. He writes:—

"One may'admiro Modernists, and yet see defects in Modernism. It is one thing to accept tho principle of criticism; it is another thing to accept particular products of criticism. One or two of tho less pleasing features of Modernism may be briefly noticed. One tendency which seems to pervade most Modernist theology is that towards drawing a sharp distinction between 'historical truth' and what is called 'faith-truth.' The Christ of history and the Christ of faith have a great gulf fixed between them. It is not always easy to find out exactly what M. Loisy and other Modernists mean when they nro setting forth the nature ■of this distinction. Tho Modernist Christology'appears to assert or to suggest that the Christ of/history is, so to speak, a baro skeleton, whioh-the religious consciousness of the ages 'has clothed with flie product of its own yearnings and . ideals. The Christ of faith lias been woven round the Christ of history. The various facts of the Gospel havo likewise nudergo'no a process of Tiistorical transfiguration.' They are historically untrue, but symbolically true. The articles of the Creed may be based on historical errors, but they represent 'faith-truth': they embody tho workings of tho religious consciousness in its attempt to frame an ideal Christ; they shadow I fdrth. in tho -! symbolism of concrcte events truths which belong only to the world of ideas."